For an NCAA national Player of the Year and No. pick in the NBA Draft, Evan Turner has a curiously low profile and an even lower set of expectations. While most athletes in his position arrive in their city as “The Savior” or “The Franchise,” Turner — averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while shuttling in and out of the starting lineup — is just another piece to the Philadelphia 76ers’ puzzle. Meaning he has the basketball world right where he wants it. Read More »

Ranking the NBA from worst to first…

30. Sacramento Kings (4-14) Last week — Lost to Indiana, lost at L.A. Lakers, lost to Dallas It’s not exactly ideal when, during the last two minutes of a close game against one of the NBA’s elite teams, your announcer says something like “Beno Udrih wants the basketball,” and it’s supposed to be a reason for optimism. The losing streak is at seven. Read More »

You ever spent hours working on a project, then within five minutes it became totally useless? That’s how it was for whoever on the Atlanta Hawks production staff spent their time making fake movie posters hyping the Hawks as “The Road Warriors” because they went into last night’s game in Miami with a 7-2 road record, best in the East. About five minutes into the first quarter, however, before they could even show the graphic, LeBron and D-Wade and Bosh led the Heat on a 14-2 run and built a lead Miami would never lose … This was the game we envisioned when the Heat trio first joined forces. Read More »

Tracy McGrady is finally a Knick, Nate Robinson is a Celtic and Tyrus Thomas has transformed from a sulky Bull into a brooding Bobcat. There were also a few odds and ends to note as the trade deadline passed, and it’s clear that fantasy owners have some work to do if they want to sort through the debris to separate the gems from the rubble. Let’s take a look at the notable fantasy implications. Read More »

Although this isn’t a blockbuster by any means, as I wrote earlier today, the Bucks are not done dealing. According to ESPN.com’s Chad Ford, the Bucks are in serious talks with the Sixers surrounding a deal that would send Jodie Meeks, Francisco Elson and a second-round pick to the Sixers for Primoz Brezec and Royal Ivey. My initial reaction: Who cares? Read More »

This past Friday when I was at Madison Square Garden to watch Knicks/Bucks, I got up with Milwaukee’s Jodie Meeks and Hakim Warrick before the game. With Meeks, a rookie from Kentucky, we chatted about his year so far, the rules of the road and his thoughts on John Wall. With Hak, a five-year pro from Syracuse, we talked about comparisons with Wes Johnson, the best pro advice he never received and his PlayStation addiction. Oh yea, and both of these guys think their alma mater (currently No. 2 and No. 3 in the nation) can win the National Championship. It all plays out in the interviews below… Read More »

OK, so it’s safe to say Vince Carter is back. After a terrible month of January that would’ve made bigger headlines had the Magic had been losing, Vince ran off two straight 20-point games over Super Bowl weekend, then last night he exploded on the Hornets like Shane Diesel at a cougar convention … Vince got going early, scoring seven of Orlando’s first 12 points after tip-off, but was fairly quiet the rest of the first half as the Magic got picked apart by Darren Collison (27 pts, 9 asts, 4 stls) and David West (27 pts) and gave up 70 points by halftime. The defense tightened up in the second half, though, and Vince went nuts. He finished with 48 points, six threes and zero dunks. Read More »

Phil Jackson is the king of the smart-ass, “Did he just insult me?” sneaky insult; Stan Van Gundy is good for more blatantly throwing you under the bus and making it work; Gregg Popovich will scream at you in front of 20,000 people but never lose your respect; and Mike Brown will get himself ejected in a minute going to bat for you — so long as your name is LeBron James. But you have to love the way Jerry Sloan gets it done: No games, no tactics, just telling it like it is whether he’s in a closed locker room or in front of a crew of reporters … Watching the Nuggets spend all night at the free throw line (41-of-49 FT) in Sunday’s win over Utah, most coaches would blame the refs. Sloan wasn’t going there. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Aaron Brooks exploded for 43 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover, while chipping in 6 threes, shooting 47 percent (14-30) from the field and 75 percent (9-12) from the line. True, he was helped by an insane triple-overtime match, but Brooks has been having himself a nice 2010 so far. It’s still likely that he’ll hit a rough patch in the near future, but it’s clear that the little man won’t be flying under any radars next season. Read More »

Although things weren’t looking to hot for Michael Redd last week, things just got a whole lot worse. According to The Journal Sentinel, a basketball source has confirmed that Redd suffered a torn ACL and torn MCL in his left knee on Sunday night in Los Angeles, sidelining him for the rest of the season. Read More »